The best solution for creating a screen-shot movie to demonstrate a website feature?


8

We recently just launched a new space planner/floor plan tool on our site and would like to create a screen-shot movie (with a voiceover commentary) to visually demonstrates its ease of use. Can anyone recommend the most effective/affordable/easy solution for this?

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asked Oct 27 '09 at 05:29
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David Gise
211 points
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  • Are you on mac or windows? – Gabriel Hurley 14 years ago

10 Answers


9

There are a number of screencasting utilities out there. Some are free, but for these I'd say there are better options to be had for ~$20 and the added features and quality are worth the minimal cost.

A few options:

More expensive ("Professional") but very powerful:

Hope that helps!
answered Oct 27 '09 at 07:04
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Gabriel Hurley
785 points
  • +1 for iShowU. I was very pleased with it. – Micah 14 years ago
  • Currently I am on a PC so I downloaded a trial version of Camtasia. Seems extremely simple to use and powerful, as you mentioned. Thanks for the recommendation. – David Gise 14 years ago

9

Camtasia Studio (for years for PCs, now also for the Mac) is the leader for depth and sophistication. There's a sizable community built up around Camtasia. But having the right tool doesn't mean you'll get the results you want. Screencasting is a learned skill.

One new resource you should check out is Ian Ozsvald - Ian's "day job" is creating screencasts for companies. That may be out of your budget. But his Screencasting Handbook at http://TheScreencastingHandbook.com is currently free. Grab it.

answered Oct 27 '09 at 10:03
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Bob Walsh
2,620 points
  • Great resource Bob! I quickly learned that you are correct, the right tool does not guarantee the right results. Biggest problem thus far is the audio but I am just getting started. Sounds like I need to step back and read the handbook. Thx again. – David Gise 14 years ago
  • +1 - for good info on not depending on the tool, and the link to a handbook. – James Black 14 years ago

4

I am a big fan of the free screen capture site http://www.screentoaster.com/ I first read about them on techcrunch which gave them a great review and I've been using it ever since to make presentations of my screen.

answered Oct 28 '09 at 16:29
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Adam Webber
314 points

3

CamStudio if you need something free.

answered Oct 27 '09 at 07:09
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Jeffrey Hicks
313 points

3

I made this video using iShowU and iMovie on a Mac. I was very impressed with how easy iShowU was and would recommend it to anyone.

Another tip: Use a decent microphone, like one on a headset.

Finally, set aside a looong block of time. Ours was a ten minute video and it took me about 6 hours to get everything right. It will be faster next time, but there's a lot of stumbling in the beginning.

answered Oct 27 '09 at 07:39
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Micah
880 points
  • Unfortunately I am on a PC so I think I Camtasia is my answer for now. Great video that you created BTW. I can see why it took you 6 hours to create. – David Gise 14 years ago
  • @Justyn - The click animation was part of iShowU, and you could turn it on or off. I *think* there's a way to do zoom in as well, but never looked that hard. – Micah 14 years ago

2

Jing is quite good as well. What I love about it that it's dead easy with integrated free online screencast / HD support

answered Nov 9 '09 at 23:29
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The Dictator
2,305 points

2

We use Camtasia Studio but if you use gotomeeting while giving a demo you can record the session and use it. Kind of doing two things at once.

answered Nov 6 '09 at 06:48
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Edtdbrown
21 points

0

I have to second Abhi's recommendation: Wink is the way to go.

answered Nov 9 '09 at 12:39
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Peter K.
377 points

0

If you're on Snow Leopard, the QuickTime Player application (included in the system) can record the screen. iMovie lets you assemble different recordings with transitions and voiceover.

answered Oct 28 '09 at 21:37
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Duncan Wilcox
241 points

0

Camstudio is the best & easiest to use application

answered Oct 4 '10 at 15:12
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Viv
482 points

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